The present invention relates to a process for producing a packaged aseptic soybean curd, and more particularly to a process for automatically producing a packaged aseptic kinugoshi soybean curd.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,326 discloses a method of preparing a packaged aseptic soybean curd automatically. The disclosed method generally comprises sterilizing soybean milk by heating and thereafter cooling the milk to room temperature, mixing in an aseptic atmosphere the soybean milk with an aqueous solution of glucono-delta-lactone sterilized by being filtered with a millipore filter, filling the mixture into a container in an aseptic atmosphere and sealing the container, and immersing the sealed container in a hot water bath to coagulate the mixture.
The conventional soybean curd production method described above employs glucono-delta-lactone as a coagulant. However, glucono-delta-lactone has the drawback of being more expensive than bittern which has long been used as a coagulant and rendering soybean curd sour to impair the taste when used. The reason why glucono-delta-lactone is used as a coagulant as above in place of bittern only for producing soybean curd automatically is that bittern reacts with soybean milk immediately when merely mixed therewith, consequently making it impossible to fill the mixture into a container, whereas glucono-delta-lactone rapidly reacts with and coagulates soybean milk only when heated, such that the mixture can be filled into a container without coagulation before heating. Furthermore, glucono-delta-lactone, which can not be sterilized by heating, requires use of a millipore filter and can not be sterilized inexpensively.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a process for automatically producing a packaged aseptic soybean curd of good taste with use of bittern which is an inexpensive coagulant and which can be sterilized by heating.